Synthesis, Characterization and MRI Application of Cobalt-Zinc Ferrite Nanoparticles Coated with DMSA: An In-vivo Study

The aim of this study was to synthesize and characterize the dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) cobalt–zinc (Co–Zn) ferrite magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) and their efficiency as a contrast agent in in vivo MR imaging of rat liver. Co–Zn ferrite NPs were synthesized by the thermal decomposition method and stabilized by DMSA. The NPs were characterized by different analyses to study their physical and magnetic properties and were injected into 6 adult male rats. Liver MRI was performed to measure the signal intensity at different times. The average nanoparticle size was estimated at about 8 ± 1 nm using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The r2 and r2* relaxivity of these particles were obtained at 32.85 and 168.96 mmol L−1 s−1, respectively, using an agarose phantom imaged by MRI. In the in vivo condition, injection of SNPs (2.5 mg Fe/kg) showed negative contrast in a way that for T2 and T2* weighted the maximum contrast enhancement was 58.46 and 77.13%, respectively. Regarding our results, the synthesized Co–Zn ferrite NPs stabilized by DMSA are appropriate agents for increasing the contrast in both T2 and T2* weighted based on MR imaging in rat liver.